World's Most Effective Malaria Vaccine Made By Oxford Team Could Save 4 Lakh Lives Annually

Scientists at the University of Oxford have developed the world¡¯s first malaria vaccine that has met the World Health Organisation¡¯s goal of over 75 percent efficacy, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Reuters

Researchers around the world have been on the lookout for effective inoculations against mosquito-borne disease.

Also Read: Researchers Using Mutant Mosquitoes To End Malaria, Which Kills 4 Lakh Per Year

The disease is known to kill over 400,000 people every year with major casualties in sub-Saharan Africa, with most of these casualties being children under the age of five.

The vaccine uses Matriz-M adjuvant technology. In case you thought you¡¯ve heard it somewhere before, you¡¯re not wrong. It is also the tech that has been instrumental in the development of Novavax Inc¡¯s vaccine for the novel coronavirus.

According to the study published in the journal Lancelet, the vaccine was trialled in 450 children aged between five to seventeen months in Burkina Faso and the vaccine was well-tolerated, according to the team at Oxford¡¯s Jenner Institute.

The vaccine candidate, also known as R21 is 77 percent effective against malaria, according to the study. It is important to note that the study is yet to be peer-reviewed.

Also Read: What If We Used Mosquitoes To Vaccinate People? Japan Actually Did

India¡¯s Serum Institute, which has been instrumental in developing Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine) in India, is going to manufacture the vaccine once it¡¯s approved.

Adrian Hill at the University of Oxford and his colleagues said in a statement with PA, ¡°With the commitment by our commercial partner, the Serum Institute of India, to manufacture at least 200 million doses annually in the coming years, the vaccine has the potential to have a major public health impact if licensure is achieved.¡±

Reuters

Also Read: Mosquito Spit Is Used In Vaccine That May End All Mosquito-Spread Diseases

Simon Bland, chief executive officer of the Global Institute for Disease Elimination calls this vaccine a game-changer, ¡°Even before COVID-19, progress in the global fight against malaria had stalled. This new vaccine could be a game-changer toward the elimination of malaria, a disease that has killed more people than any other since the beginning of humankind.¡±

The vaccine is expected to start a broad series of clinical trials involving 4,800 children across four African nations.